The Rise of Enterprise 2.0An Interview with Prof Andrew McAfee

Greg Lloyd – President & Co-FounderTraction Software Incwww.TractionSoftware.com17 April 2008

Key Point #1

• Enterprise 2.0 is about how social software is used by by enterprises in pursuit of their business goals:– Not how software is developed

– Not how software gets deployed

– Not how software is integrated

• The value of social software is how it is used to make a business more competitive, responsive and efficient.

Key Point #2

“Social software” means software that supports group interactions - not disco balls and parties

The English word “social” can mean:

1. “Relating to human society and how it is organized” (social organization, social studies)

2. “Living together or enjoying life in communities or organized groups” (social animals)

3. “A kind of non-business activity where people meet for amusement” (like a party)

A Definition of Social Software

“It's software that supports group interaction. I also want to emphasize, although that's a fairly simple definition, how radical that pattern is. The Internet supports lots of communications patterns, principally point-to-point and two-way, one-to-many outbound, and many-to-many two-way.” − Clay Shirkyfrom Prof Shirky’s keynote speech: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy O’Reilly Conference April 2003

Personal versus Social Software

• Personal Software: Microsoft Word– One person edits many pages privately

• Social Software: Wiki – Many people edit many pages - like a team of

people build a house, car or other product

• Personal software is not “social”

• Many people working together to design and assemble a product is “social”

Key Point: #3

• Businesses who are skillful in applying Enterprise 2.0 principals can gain a unique competitive advantage:– Because they make better use of the unique talents

and experience of their people

– Because they are better at developing and sustaining important relationships with their customers and suppliers

– Because they can act more quickly

• Like working together as group to design, build and sell a car - skill differentiates winners

Key Point #4

• Enterprise 2.0 software must be designed to be supremely easy to use– Like commercial internet software

– Not like old style IT software

– Designers of enterprise software must learn new skills

• New style Enterprise 2.0 software should “work like the web”

The 9X better than Email Barrier

• For an older workforce used to email, E2.0 software must be 9x better to gain wide adoption, but:– We believe that the E2.0 advantage may meet the

9x test in some cases

– A way of working that gives a “9x advantage” to each individual may give a strategic advantage to an enterprise

• For the rising workforce the Web is the established way of working.

The Rising Workforce

• A March 2008 New York Times article asked teenagers what email is good for.

• Common answers:– To talk to my bank

– To write a thank you note to my grandparents

• Does that make you feel old !

Summary

• #1 Enterprise 2.0 is about how software is used to support business goals

• #2 “Social” means about group interaction, not parties in the office!

• #3 Businesses who are skillful in applying Enterprise 2.0 principals can gain a unique competitive advantage

• #4 Ease of use and working like the Web are supremely important for Enterprise 2.0 software

Contact

Gregory R. LloydPresident and Co-Foundergrl@tractionsoftware.com1 (401)-528-1145

Traction Software, Inc.245 Waterman StreetSuite 309Providence, RI 02906 USA

www.TractionSoftware.com

                               

Backup

A Clarification:“Social” in English can mean

• Relating to human society or how it is organized: social institutions, social forces

• Relating to rank or status in society: her mother is a lady of high social standing

• Living together or enjoying life in communities or organized groups: a human being is a social animal

• Relating to or designed for activities where people meet each other for pleasure: the party was a lavish social event.

Transactional versus Social Software

• Transactional Software: Accounting system– Many people add accounting records, but each

record is a rigidly structured transaction with debits, credits and accounts specified.

• Social Software: Weblog (blog)– One or more persons contribute to the same blog

over time. Each blog post is a message read by people and indexed by search that others can link to or comment on.

• Transactional software is not “social”

Collaboration needs blog and wiki views working together

Wiki view: The product you wish to build, sell and support

Blog view: The external intelligence, internal dialog, and record of decisions of teams working together over time to create and sustain the product